Literacy in the Courts

Frozen moment of judicial compassion

By Valerie Mutton

November 11 2011 issue Lawyers Weekly

Justice Harvey Brownstone presides at a suburban Toronto building in which 6,000 family court cases are open at any given moment. It is the busiest such setting in the country. But when he senses someone appearing before him has difficulty reading, he doesn’t mind taking a moment, slowing things down and carefully guiding the proceedings to make certain everyone grasps what’s going on. In a venue with no shortage of painful vignettes, these moments form poignant contrasts...